As the calendar showed the date was 15 November, 1979, around 05.20 in the morning, the people of Istanbul woke to an explosion the like of which had never been seen before.

The Romanian tanker Independenta ran into a Greek cargo ship right in front of Haydarpaşa Station at the entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

The ship exploded with a huge roar.

Due to the force of the explosion, many buildings in the city along the shore of the Bosphorus were damaged, and windows in people’s homes were shattered.

The fire raged for days.

The sky turned red because of the flames.

The cloud of smoke that arose in the wake of the blast hung above Istanbul for days.

Our Prophet (saas) said in the hadiths, 1400 years ago, that this fire was a sign of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as).

When you see a fire from the East, expect to see the coming of one from the line of Muhammed (Hazrat Mahdi (as), such that people sleeping will wake in fear, those standing will collapse and those sitting will leap up.

I swear that A FIRE WILL ENFOLD YOU.

That flame is currently lying extinguished in a valley called BEREHUT. That flame will enfold people, though there is terrible suffering in it. That flame will burn and destroy people and their possessions. ITS HEAT AT NIGHT IS GREATER THAN ITS INTENSITY BY DAY. That flame WILL BECOME A TERRIBLE NOISE, by descending to the center of the Earth from above people’s heads, just like lightning between the earth and sky .

According to the information provided in the hadith, this fire is an event that will take place in the days when Hazrat Mahdi (as) sets foot in Istanbul.

Newspaper reports about the explosion

Son Havadis: Romanian tanker explodes

Tercuman: Night turned into day

Istanbul Gazetesi: Istanbul burned

Tercuman: Windows shattered in thousands of houses

Aksam: Istanbul residents leap from their beds

Hergun: A black cloud smothers Istanbul

Hurriyet: A moment from hell

Cumhuriyet: The fire will go on

Milliyet: The danger is not over yet

Milli Gazete: Tragedy on the Bosphorus – 51 dead

Hurriyet: Allah protected us

Son Havadis: I saw people leap into the air during the explosion

Aksam: Istanbul wreathed in smoke

Turkiye: Tanker burning at full intensity

Yeniasya: Allah prevented a disaster

Hurriyet: People watched the blaze in fear

Turkiye: There may be new blasts

Turkiye: The cloud given off has poisoned the air

Son Havadis: The Romanian tanker will burn for45 days

The tanker erupted with a huge roar

The smoke lingered for days

We will find Hazrat Mahdi (as) beside a fire

51 people dead

Adnan Oktar extract

We will find Hazrat Mahdi (as) beside a fire. That is the portent. I mean it will be dense fire. A fire that will cover the sky and make people ask if it is already day. As described in the hadiths it was a noise like thunder and this fire continued with great explosions. The smoke was like mountains stretching for many kilometers. The hadiths refer to this. On the days of this fire, he says, "know that Hazrat Mahdi (as) has come to that blessed location." Look when you see that fire, when you hear that explosion, when you hear that noise like thunder. People asleep will be woken by the roar, he says. And when they rise they will wonder if it is already morning and will think that the Day of Reckoning has begun. We see exactly that when we look at the newspaper headlines. The hadiths and the headlines match one another exactly. The hadiths refer to people asking if morning has come, to a noise like thunder, to masses of clouds resembling mountains, to property being destroyed and some people losing their lives. Our Prophet (saas) says it will last 3 or 7 days, a long time. That is also in the hadiths, exactly. When that happens, he says, know that this person has come to that blessed place, Istanbul,

Extract from journalist Haluk özözlü

It was a Thursday morning, 15 November, 1979, I heard five blasts of a horn in my sleep. You can keep calm if you hear one, two or three blasts of a horn, but when I heard the fourth and fifth I knew that something bad was going to happen. We heard a noise, the like of which nobody had ever heard before. It was a gigantic blast. It was so huge that all the windows of all the houses over the Kabataş Wall, as far as the houses in Kadıköy and even as far away as Maçka and Beşiktaş were shattered. I immediately stepped onto the balcony. When I looked toward Haydarpaşa my first impression was that the sea was on fire. People who witnessed it but could not see what was happening said they though there had been an earthquake. Everyone leaped out of their beds. Nobody knew what had happened.

A newspaper photographer friend of mine had gone to the 9.15 showing at the As Cinema. They had just left at that time and when they stepped out from the dark interior of the cinema and saw that sudden light, they thought the Day of Reckoning had broken and some of them prostrated themselves on the ground. It was so bright. I cannot describe it any other way. I cannot say it was like this or that. Because no such thing had ever happened before. It was suddenly as bright as day. It was something totally unexpected. It was like a sudden flare going off and the whole sky was lit up.